As I mentioned in journal entry #2, I was very hesitant to apply to a corporate setting. I have never worked in this type of environment. When I was completing the pre-boarding package sent to me, the employee handbook said we must always dress business casual except on casual Friday. I was going to be working full-time during the summer so I wasn’t used to dressing business casual 5 days a week. I wasn’t even sure I had that many outfits. After a couple weeks at work, I realized that my department Hook&Loop (which takes up the entire 3rd floor of the building) was a lot different than the rest of Infor. Hook&Loop is very relaxed and chill, and has more of a small agency vibe. We’re a bunch of creatives. The rest of Infor, for the most part, is way more corporate and even dress in entire suits, not just business casual. The employees at Hook&Loop dress pretty casually but still fashionable. No one is coming to work in shorts or sweat pants, but jeans, t-shirts and clean sneakers are not being frowned upon. It’s the type of setting where you don’t need to dress in a suit to impress because your work speaks for itself. Now I usually wear a t-shirt or a button down, with chinos or jeans and a pair of sneakers.
The space at Hook&Loop is set up openly. Everyone has a desk with a 27″ Apple monitor and is given a work MacBook Pro. Employees are free to decorate their desk however they want. No one has their own office. The art directors and creative directors have the same type of desk as everyone else and sit among the other employees. My art and creative director are only a couple desks away from me and I’m able to ask them questions whenever. There are small rooms that are used for meetings and when they’re empty, an employee could sit in there and work. No one is required to stay at their desk all day. There are other smaller rooms, called Phone Rooms, that just have a single chair and a desk with a phone on it. People love to sit in these rooms to make a quick phone call or to work in a quiet setting. There are plenty of areas in the office were an employee can just sit, chill and work. There are sofas in some areas, various kitchens filled with snacks and coffee.
A typical workday starts around 9 or 9:30am. Some have various meetings throughout the morning with clients or with other employees to discuss progress on projects. People usually go to lunch around 12 or 1pm. Sometimes people eat at their desk or go out with coworkers to eat. I’ve gone to lunches with coworkers that start at 12 and end around 1:30pm just because we’re having fun. But we always come back and finish our work. The day usually ends around 6pm but I know a couple people that stay even later because they have a huge project to work on.
